Local tech company spaces - ask people you know who work there, or ask your own employer if there’s a meeting space you can use.
For companies willing to let you use their meeting spaces, offer them the chance to do a hiring spiel to open the meeting.
Check with the organizers of other tech meetup groups for venue ideas.
Contact local hacker spaces
Contact local coworking spaces
Contact your local university's
Getting the word out
Email the organizers of other tech meetup groups to ask them to help advertise your event.
Put posters up at universities, or contact the student society. Ask the department secretary to contact grad students.
Partner with other groups for jointly hosted events
Get business cards to hand out at events
Set up a Twitter account
Meeting ideas
Workshops with themes/goals (e.g., arduino, raspberry pi)
Hold a small competition for your group where there’s a goal and you split into two teams and try to solve a problem faster, or better (performance, speed, etc.).
Beginner raspberry pi and arduino classes
Get involved with hack days with other local user groups
Brainstorm ideas for group projects, so that you have a collection of specific projects to work on for hack nights.
Leverage Google Hangout to offer support to existing members on matters that hinge more on conversation than on in-person hacking